George Brent

March 15, 1904 George Brent Female, Baby Face
I never liked George Brent more than I did in the pre-code film Female. Playing opposite Ruth Chatterton, who I had only known prior in the Simone Simon vehicle, Girls Dormitory, Brent plays the Alpha Male. Brent’s status as a man matters of course, because until now, Ruth Chatteron’s Miss Drake had only succeeded in drawing weak and vain men into her lair; men she could quickly discard before work the next morning when she chose to be bored and send them far away to places like Montreal. And while it had to be rough being a woman in the 30’s in charge of an automobile factory, it had to be worse not being seen as a woman at all- enter George Brent. Brent comes on the scene, dashing, take charge, and not one bit interested that Miss Drake owns the factory he now works in. Nope, see he saw Miss Drake, before he realized she would be his boss… and when lured to her lair, he quickly comes back with “…I like to do my own hunting,” leaving her high and dry. He is in fact the Alpha Male, and in order to win him, she’s gotta tone it down. Brent does his best in this romantic comedy of role reversal, playing dashing, fun, and when pulling out that marriage license “wanting to be respectable after last night.” So sweet. Of course he still has some hoops to jump through before things work out, but gosh, its sure fun watching. In Baby Face he plays the last guy on Barbara Stanwyck’s ladder to “success”. After a bit of struggle she finally gives in and marries our dashing hero, but not without doing some major soul searching first…soul searching that in the end puts their whole romance in jeopardy. But don’t worry, Barbara and George have done this dance before. They get together in The Purchase Price as well, another wonderful Pre-Code gem found in the Forbidden Hollywood series. And if you’re looking for one of those respectable films, don’t worry, George made those too. Playing Mr. Ransome in the The Rains Came, he’s the reformed playboy/alcoholic who goes about saving a whole piece of India, and an 18 year old debutante too. Its for all these reasons and more that we simply can’t get enough of George. Happy Birthday!!!